Photo: Emily Cotter · CC BY-SA 4.0Harvard’s household incomes are among the highest in the country
The two grades for Harvard are A− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Below the poverty line: 4.5% of residents, where Massachusetts as a whole has 10.0%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Harvard stands out on work
A lot of Harvard works from home
45% of Harvard workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Harvard has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Harvard went from 2,653 in 2013 to 5,167 in 2023, +95%. The jobs ↓
Harvard is where the jobs are
Harvard has 5,167 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in Harvard pay over $40,000 a year
79% of the jobs based in Harvard pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Harvard draws workers from far and wide
The 5,167 jobs in Harvard are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 30%; the other 66% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Harvard: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Harvard is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #121 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Harvard’s grade up ($213,996, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Harvard could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
About 32 minutes each way for Harvard’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Harvard workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,622 commuters (the 45% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Harvard works in goods: 38% of its jobs
5,167 jobs are based in Harvard.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Harvard, 2013 → 2023: 2,653 → 5,167. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Harvard’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Harvard: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,552 residents head out to work, 219 work right here, and 4,948 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,400 people are in Harvard on a workday afternoon, 34% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Harvard’s workforce comes from
Where Harvard clocks in
10% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How far Harvard’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
For most of Harvard, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Harvard is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #192 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,938 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 20% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.7% of Harvard households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Harvard’s commuters take a bus or train.
Harvard places 647th of 3,227 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| 87 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 645 | Cape St. Claire MD | 9,236 | $136K | 4.3% | 5.3% | 5% | A− |
| 646 | Woodbridge CT | 9,160 | $189K | 2.1% | 7.9% | 6% | A− |
| 647 | Harvard MA | 7,014 | $214K | 4.5% | 5.5% | 8% | A− |
| 648 | Camino Tassajara CA | 5,831 | $250K | 6.5% | 4.6% | 1% | A− |
| 649 | West Loch Estate HI | 5,544 | $122K | 8.3% | 3.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,227 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Harvard, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Harvard and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Harvard workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard | – | A− | B | 32 min | $213,996 |
| Lancaster | under 3% | A− | B | 32 min | $134,833 |
| Shirley | under 3% | B+ | B− | 40 min | $122,365 |
| Ayer | under 3% | B | A | 33 min | $101,875 |
| Boxborough | under 3% | A | B | 30 min | $144,611 |
| Bolton | under 3% | A | C | 37 min | $205,449 |
| Littleton | under 3% | A | B+ | 33 min | $149,722 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Harvard’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Harvard: questions
What is the median household income in Harvard?
$213,996 (±$23,859) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Harvard?
4.5%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Harvard?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 45% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Harvard work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (10%, 32 mi), Worcester (4%, 20 mi), Concord (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Harvard walkable?
Harvard is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Harvard without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Harvard, from the people who make the trip.
More of Harvard
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.